


Bitter Sweets

by Witty_Whit



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sweet, Wordcount: 100-500
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-25
Updated: 2010-01-25
Packaged: 2017-10-17 05:56:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/173638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witty_Whit/pseuds/Witty_Whit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fleur tries to comfort George, but ends up being comforted herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bitter Sweets

Fleur hesitated.

George was sitting so still that she timidly wavered in the doorway, wondering if the usually vivacious boy wanted to be left alone. Just as she was about to turn away, he looked up, the side of his mouth twitching for an instant.

Cautiously, Fleur walked in, hoping that the slight spasm was a smile and not a grimace; an invitation, and not a dismissal. She sat down in a chair opposite him and picked up her book that she had been reading the night before. Never before had she felt ill at ease around George, but today she felt nervous as she fumbled for the right page. An anxious giggle escaped her lips as she looked up at the morose red-headed boy sitting across from her.

George was eating something, staring, not at her, but out the window. As Fleur watched, he lifted a red candy to his mouth, broke through the hard shell with a crunch, and swallowed, never glancing her way.

It burst from her mouth before she could remember her manners. "What are you eating?"

Startled, George looked up at her, blinking a bit before he recalled, "M&Ms. Muggle candy – chocolate." Fleur nodded with a quiet smile. "Want some?"

"Oh! Oui—yes, please." George poured a handful of the colorful candies into her hand.

Cautiously, she took a blue one and put it in her mouth. One could never be too careful with Muggle foods. Fleur smiled as she chewed; the small candy was delightful. "Zes are good!" Quickly, she popped a green one and a yellow one in her mouth.

"Yeah, we've always liked them." George ducked his head, and Fleur had no trouble guessing who the other person was in that statement.

"'ow did you find zem?" Fleur asked as she ate two more.

"They're quite popular in Muggle stores. We—I always like experimenting with Muggle candies.  
They're quite inventive, you know."

"Yes, zey can be, for 'aving no magic." Fleur hoped this conversation wasn't too painful for her brother-in-law.

Again looking out the window, George smiled to himself. Fleur wondered which caper he was so fondly remembering. Those boys were—had been nothing but mischievous fun. Bitterly, she doubted that she would ever be able to laugh at another tale of their latest escapade. It was entirely unfair, and Fleur felt the unwelcome, but regular wave of sorrow well up in her that came every time she thought about the deaths of her friends.

Fleur's face must have looked more resentful than she thought, because, after studying her, George whispered, "It's all right, Fleur." Louder he asked, "I'm going to go to the store to try a new type of candy. Do you want to come with me? It'll be a lark."

Fleur stood up with George, "Of course, I do."

Together, they walked out of the Burrow toward town.


End file.
